A Nuance in Two Parts — As yet unsettled

From my Dad:

"I learnt* today [...] that the word "retaliation" equates more with "vengeance" whereas "retribution" equates more with "justice" -- I had thought retaliation and retribution meant the same."

Here are facts:

Retaliation

— noun

   the act of retaliating**; return of like for like; reprisal.
   Origin: 1575–85; retaliate + -ion

And:

Retribution

—noun

   1. requital according to merits or deserts, especially for evil.
   2. something given or inflicted in such requital.
   3. Theology. the distribution of rewards and punishments in a future life.

Fascinating nuance. If I would've thought to describe it, I would've said "retaliation" was more immediate, "retribution" more determined, full throated, intense. But that otherwise they contained the same fundamental concept.

終

* Ignore this. My dad sometimes finds it funny to write with British English misspellings.
** This is a circular definition. Lexicographers who do this, defining a word with itself, are lazy.